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It has been many years since I first visited Rome. The eternal city captured my heart in many ways – the history, the architecture, the people, the chaos. It is a city that I knew I would return to one day. That day finally came around this year and I made my second visit to Rome during another tour of Italy. I had visited the popular tourist spots on my first visit, so this time I wanted to get a more in depth view of Rome, away from the mass crowds. I wanted to explore Rome’s neighbourhoods, visit lesser visited sites, peruse less popular museums and galleries, and just sit at quiet cafes and parks and enjoy watching Roman life go by.
One of the places I really wanted to visit during this trip was the neighbourhood of Trastevere, located on the Western side of the River Tiber. While this is not exactly a lesser visited part of Rome, it is away from the main tourist attractions. Trastevere is a popular area for local Romans. It has a rustic, laid-back vibe, with quiet cobblestone laneways that lead onto picturesque piazzas filled with charming restaurants and cafes.
I decided to visit in the morning, just as everything was waking up. I hopped off the tram and wandered along the pleasant streets, making my way to Piazza di Santa Maria, the centre of Trastevere. I sat down at a cafe and ordered a coffee, watching people wandering through the piazza, admiring the fountain and the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere.
I spent the next couple of hours just wandering aimlessly around the quiet cobblestone streets and alleys. I was honestly in heaven. The architecture is imperfectly perfect in that Roman way, and everywhere you look there is some part of Trastevere life that pulls you in. People chatting over coffee at a little streetside cafe, someone hanging washing from their apartment window, an ancient vine pushing out the cobblestones and winding up a crumbling building. I could happily be lost here for hours.
If you have a some extra time in Rome to spend away from the popular tourist sites (and you should visit them), take a few hours to wander around Trastevere. It is a beautiful neighbourhood.
Amazing post.
Less to read and more to see, enjoyed your post a lot, showed the internal city.
Thanks for sharing. Cheers!!
Your photos are just amazing Dean. Rome is just one of the best places to see.
Nice photos! Looks like one of those neighborhoods with lots of uniformity across it (mostly the same colors, at least). Nice job ensuring that reddish color didn’t completely dominate the scene… Was there any one standout spot, other than the Piazza di Santa Maria?
This looks like such a beautiful place to relax and take in the local life. I love the cobblestone roads and outdoor cafes.
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